CEFAS25-39 RFQ for Photographer & Videographer Services for Caribbean Survey 2026

The Blue Belt Programme is the UK Government’s international marine conservation programme. It works closely with 10 UK Overseas Territories (UKOT) to assist them in creating and maintaining healthy and productive marine ecosystems. This programme has been central to the UK Government’s ambition of leading action to tackle the serious global problems of overfishing, species extinction and climate change. Protecting over 4 million kilometres squared of ocean, the programme is vital in meeting the UK’s commitments through the Global Biodiversity Framework, the 30by30 target, and UN Ocean Decade.

In January 2026, the Blue Belt programme will undertake a scientific expedition around the Caribbean Islands of Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and the Cayman Islands, collectively representing around 365,000 km2 of UKOT seas. The survey will provide scientific research and capacity building across several scientific disciplines, including oceanographic, hydrographic and ecological studies. Research will include seafloor mapping, ocean biogeochemistry, and marine biodiversity monitoring. There will also be one day spent in port at each territory, providing an opportunity for engagement with UKOT communities and to accept visitors on board.

Aligning with the 10-year anniversary of the Blue Belt Programme in 2026, the Caribbean Survey presents a significant and rare opportunity to showcase UK marine science capability and outreach in the Caribbean UK Overseas Territories. It builds on the success of previous surveys, such as the Discovery 159 expedition around the islands of Ascension and St Helena in 2022. The research generated from this expedition continues to support these territories in managing and protecting their marine protected areas. The expedition also raised national and international awareness of the programme through an award-winning documentary ‘Voyage of Discovery’ narrated by Ellie Goulding, extensive media coverage, and a digital campaign reaching over 14,000 accounts. We are keen to build on this success with the communication outputs from the 2026 Caribbean expedition.

We are looking for an experienced, passionate storyteller who can communicate our story through powerful imagery and film footage to a diverse range of audiences, from school children, students, scientists, environmentalists, and policy makers.

The details

In total, the survey will last 44 days (12 days per Overseas Territory plus transit between) and will provide scientific and capacity building support.

The scientific and technical crew will board the RRS James Cook, a multidisciplinary vessel, in the Dominican Republic on the (13/01/2026), before sailing to Anguilla (15/01 - 26/01) for the first leg of the survey. After this, the vessel will transit to Turks and Caicos (29/01 - 09/02) before heading to the Cayman Islands (13/02-25/02). The expedition will conclude in Tampa, Florida (28/02/2026). Dates are still subject to some variation so the Supplier must have availability a few days either side of this.

Cefas will arrange all travel for the successful supplier and their equipment to and from the mobilisation and de mobilisation locations.

Requirement:

On behalf of The Blue Belt Programme, the Supplier will provide videography and photography services that can support the on board Blue Belt Communications Lead to achieve the following objectives:

• Capture impactful imagery and video material to significantly enhance Blue Belt outreach and storytelling. Bring to life activities undertaken on the survey to effectively explain how the survey will support the UKOTs, grow scientific understanding and enhance marine protection.
• Showcase and raise awareness of the value of the scientific survey within the broader context of global ocean threats and the importance of high-quality data for evidence driven decision-making related to marine protected area, such as assessments of marine pollution, fisheries sustainability, and biodiversity monitoring.
• Document innovative scientific activity and new research methods conducted in remote and unique locations that are previously uncharted and not known to science.
• Describe a wide range of marine biodiversity.
• Through personal stories demonstrate the ‘people behind’ Blue Belt science impact, including interviews with the crew and documenting capacity building support provided to UKOTs through training and development opportunities.
• Deliver timely communications outputs to capture activity on board and ensure high quality content across a broad range of activities.
• Identify interesting and engaging stories throughout the journey and opportunities for visual storytelling to ensure that they are captured for communications.

Example content required:

Content will focus on capturing the scientific work being undertaken, biodiversity encountered and the collaboration between UK and Overseas Territories’ colleagues. Examples include:

• Video interview/clips from scientists, Overseas Territory representatives and other Blue Belt partners on-board, detailing work they are doing and why.
• Photos of interesting and eye-catching marine species the survey encounters.
• Images of the UKOTs themselves, their unique features and biodiversity, the individuals from the territories and scientific work undertaken there.
• Capture images or video of equipment being used and deployed as part of the survey.
• Document collaboration, knowledge sharing and training between UK and UKOT colleagues.
• Wide shots of the vessel, scientific equipment in use and marine/overseas territory landscape using drone footage.
• Live stream footage from the ship into UKOT/UK schools to showcase work, hear from scientists and give a flavour of life on board.

Deliverables:

1. To collect footage for 3 X 5 min film, or one full length 15 min documentary film to be delivered at the end of the expedition. (mp4).
2. Selection of 50 x pieces of ‘best bits’ footage varying from 30 seconds -2 mins long (mp4) to be delivered after the expedition. Up to 15 pieces of short reels/footage to be delivered throughout the expedition for social media/comms purposes.
3. 3-5 talking head videos edited and posted through the expedition.
4. To collect 100 X high-quality photos for use in other Blue Belt comms materials (JPEGS).
5. Transfer of all content to Cefas in the required file formats by SharePoint secure link or We Transfer.